"We identified the traits and characteristics that we were looking for in the next head coach, but then we also looked at our organization and our team and we tried to look at where we felt like where we were deficient and how could we look to improve those areas. Once we did that, one of the things that I think Bob just talked about was intelligence. Intelligence, innovative, flexibility - that was one of the things that we were looking for. From a football perspective that happens from game to game, whether you are talking about a personnel grouping or how you attack defenses, or how you attack offenses, but the ability to be innovative or flexible that way [is an ability that] you have to have.

You come out in the first half and you have a game plan that you worked on all week, but then you have to adjust and be innovative - flexible that way. But then over the course of a football season you have to have that same ability. We were tied for first with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with number of guys that were on injured reserve with sixteen, and so you've got to be able to adjust and adapt to those changing circumstances. Conversely the Green Bay Packers were actually third with fifteen and they're in the playoffs, so you've got to be able to do that over the course of a football season and being innovative and flexible and intelligent is one of the things that we think Bill represents."

I like how he used the IR excuse even though most of the draft was made up of players they only stashed on IR because they weren't good enough to play. Way to go Rick.

Conversely the Green Bay Packers were actually third with fifteen and they're in the playoffs, so you've got to be able to do that over the course of a football season and being innovative and flexible and intelligent is one of the things that we think Bill represents.

I like how he used the IR excuse even though most of the draft was made up of players they only stashed on IR because they weren't good enough to play. Way to go Rick.

It wasn't an excuse... quite the opposite. It was a vale criticism of Kubiak and Wade's inability to adjust and compensate schematically and in game plan preparation when the team loses key players.

I must say that I could not agree more! The greatest frustration I have had with this coaching staff is their inability to adjust- both in the middle of a game and week to week. The epitome of that frustration, for me, was last year's playoff game vs. New England. Watching Brady and company isolate anyone they wanted on Tim Dobbins in man coverage play after play was insufferable, especially since it had just happened one month earlier in the regular season.

Certainly, the same is true on offense. Offensively, it tended to be the personnel decisions on Sundays, ranging from the unwillingness to rotate RBs the past 4 years, the insistence of playing Newton over Harris this year and last year, shoving Studdard down our throats for two years (I'm still bitter about letting Shelley Smith walk), etc....

only 2 Superstars BROWN and Watt and I don't even think he picked watt that seems like a Wade pick 2 me

If you credit Phillips for Watt, then you answered your own question. You can't say the best players are coaches picks and the worst are Smiths.

I'm on record saying that Smith should have been part of wholesale changes. He's not going anywhere. I'm going to give him a clean slate. We don't know what happened out of public view. McNair does and chose to keep him.

I don't know why rick isn't held accountable he was part of the regime that got us to a 2-14 hes been here just has long has kubes 8 years and he has a long list of faliures just like KUBES

I did the numbers in his drafts

he drafts like 75 % Busts like and the reast of the players are OK

only 2 Superstars BROWN and Watt and I don't even think he picked watt that seems like a Wade pick 2 me

Use the same methodology and check out the other 31 teams.... I'm not sure how many "superstars" you expect a guy to draft...

Rick isn't going anywhere this year. That fact was clear if you watched the press conference today. Only McNair, and others in the inner circle of the organization know which decisions were ultimately Smith's and which were Kubiak's... Still, we just removed a coach in the middle of the season who took a roster built by Rick Smith to consecutive 12 win seasons. So, was the coaching that good in 2011 and 2012? If so, why fire the guy that took a poorly drafted roster into the playoffs? Or, was Kubiak justly fired for dramatically failing to get the best out of a roster that one season earlier was capable of 12-4 regular season...

Perhaps the foundation of this team was built on Quin, Casey, Barwin... and their loss destroyed the team's ability to compete... If so, do we blame Rick Smith for their loss or credit him with drafting three players in the middle rounds that are so impactful on an NFL team so early in their respective careers?

Those of you who are so adamant about what an awful coach Kubiak was and how poorly Rick Smith drafted, please explain how this team won so many games in 2011 and 2012 and yet only won two games in 2013. And please, do us all a favor and don't attribute it to luck... or scheduling. This is the NFL!

Use the same methodology and check out the other 31 teams.... I'm not sure how many "superstars" you expect a guy to draft...

Rick isn't going anywhere this year. That fact was clear if you watched the press conference today. Only McNair, and others in the inner circle of the organization know which decisions were ultimately Smith's and which were Kubiak's... Still, we just removed a coach in the middle of the season who took a roster built by Rick Smith to consecutive 12 win seasons. So, was the coaching that good in 2011 and 2012? If so, why fire the guy that took a poorly drafted roster into the playoffs? Or, was Kubiak justly fired for dramatically failing to get the best out of a roster that one season earlier was capable of 12-4 regular season...

Perhaps the foundation of this team was built on Quin, Casey, Barwin... and their loss destroyed the team's ability to compete... If so, do we blame Rick Smith for their loss or credit him with drafting three players in the middle rounds that are so impactful on an NFL team so early in their respective careers?

Those of you who are so adamant about what an awful coach Kubiak was and how poorly Rick Smith drafted, please explain how this team won so many games in 2011 and 2012 and yet only won two games in 2013. And please, do us all a favor and don't attribute it to luck... or scheduling. This is the NFL!

I really feel like the 2 win season is mainly attributable to the drastic decline in play at the QB position. I think if Schaub had played all 16 games at the level he showed at the start of the season, we probably were good for 7 to 9 wins. But we expected much better, so changes had to be made. Keenum didn't turn out to be who we wanted him to be. And at some point apathy set in, and we weren't going to win another game, no matter what happened.

Use the same methodology and check out the other 31 teams.... I'm not sure how many "superstars" you expect a guy to draft...

Rick isn't going anywhere this year. That fact was clear if you watched the press conference today. Only McNair, and others in the inner circle of the organization know which decisions were ultimately Smith's and which were Kubiak's... Still, we just removed a coach in the middle of the season who took a roster built by Rick Smith to consecutive 12 win seasons. So, was the coaching that good in 2011 and 2012? If so, why fire the guy that took a poorly drafted roster into the playoffs? Or, was Kubiak justly fired for dramatically failing to get the best out of a roster that one season earlier was capable of 12-4 regular season...

Perhaps the foundation of this team was built on Quin, Casey, Barwin... and their loss destroyed the team's ability to compete... If so, do we blame Rick Smith for their loss or credit him with drafting three players in the middle rounds that are so impactful on an NFL team so early in their respective careers?

Those of you who are so adamant about what an awful coach Kubiak was and how poorly Rick Smith drafted, please explain how this team won so many games in 2011 and 2012 and yet only won two games in 2013. And please, do us all a favor and don't attribute it to luck... or scheduling. This is the NFL!

Consecutive 12-4 seasons?

Manning got hurt and the Texans played a relatively easy schedule in the weakest division in the NFL.

Manning got hurt and the Texans played a relatively easy schedule in the weakest division in the NFL.

The Texans won 12 games in 2011 (playoff game included)... including 5 of them with a rookie 5th round pick at QB and essentially without Andre Johnson. (How does the depth Rick Smith developed via the draft compare with what Bill Polian had minus Peyton Manning?)

Then, the won 13 games the next season (playoff game included), without the services of Brian Cushing most of the season and a diminished Schaub, resulting from his injury in 2011... How does that roster and cap management compare with what Indy did, with the good fortune of falling into Andrew Luck's draft pick?... The two teams played essentially identical schedules over the course of the two seasons (The Texans schedule only appears weaker, according to record, because Indy played the Texans while the Texans played Indy over those 4 games).

I have issues with some personnel decisions the Texans have made. But, I'm not going to hold Rick Smith responsible for things he had nothing to do with...

His draft record is pretty good... It's even better if you are correct about how poor of a coach Gary Kubiak was. Smith put together a team with multiple All-pros. He drafted those players without ever having the luxury of a top 5 pick. All of the Indy Colts success throughout their domination of the AFC South is a direct result of capitalizing on the good fortune of the 1st pick in the draft (Peyton and Luck). As you asserted earlier, the Colts are nothing without that one, single person... Essentially, that means the Colts would've had similar success if Mel Kiper was their GM.

It will be interesting to see how the talent acquisition changes with the new staff. It will also be interesting to see how the new staff assesses the existing talent. Are you going to credit Rick Smith with his drafting prowess if guys like: Mercilus, Hopkins, B.Brooks, Swearinger, T. Williams, Quessenburry, KJ, Posey, B.Harris appear to be more effective players in 2014 and 2015? Or, will you then argue that Smith doesn't deserve credit, but their success is due to the coaching staff?

I would just like to see some consistency from the anti-Smith crowd. Please explain how much responsibility the coaching staff has for the development, assessment, and quality of play from the players. I should make a correction: the arguments have been consistent- if a player under-performs, Smith and Kubiak are both 100% responsible for their failure. If a player over-performs, it is a fluke and neither deserve any credit. It is the only way to bash Kubiak for failing as a coach in 2011 and in 2012 while still discrediting Rick Smith's assembly of the talent capable of winning 25 games in two seasons with an awful head coach.

The Texans won 12 games in 2011 (playoff game included)... including 5 of them with a rookie 5th round pick at QB and essentially without Andre Johnson. (How does the depth Rick Smith developed via the draft compare with what Bill Polian had minus Peyton Manning?)

Not jumping into the argument but we won 10 games in the regular season in 2011 therefore 11 with the playoff win.

I don't know why rick isn't held accountable he was part of the regime that got us to a 2-14 hes been here just has long has kubes 8 years and he has a long list of faliures just like KUBES

I did the numbers in his drafts

he drafts like 75 % Busts like and the reast of the players are OK

only 2 Superstars BROWN and Watt and I don't even think he picked watt that seems like a Wade pick 2 me

Just a couple of seasons ago people were consideeing him GM of the year... this team has talent, enough talent that this team was considered a super bowl contender before the season. He did mistakes, especially with some big contracts and some FA leaving, but overall he built a pretty strong roster. Last season was much more the coaches fault than the GMs.

75% busts? Perhaps last season, though I am not even sure about that. Guys like McCain, Mitchell or Crick ain`t busts - you can`t expect top talents in every round. And don`t forget about Cushing, Tate, Foster, Jackson, Quin, Barwin even Graham, Griffin and perhaps Mercilus and Reed... we might not hit the home run every year, but for the most part our drafts have been solid.

Not jumping into the argument but we won 10 games in the regular season in 2011 therefore 11 with the playoff win.

Wow! I follow the Texans pretty closely and can easily quote their record from the beginning off the top of my head.

4-12
5-11
7-9
2-14
6-10.. etc... (first win against Miami..Mario batted a ball down in the red zone to seal the win)

I was convinced we went 11-5 in 2011! Typical Sunshine Club Member, I convinced myself that we won the Delhomme game vs. Tennessee at the end of the year to such a degree that I actually reinvented the history in my own head... Actually, it's a little scary. Sorry for the error.

I'm not going to be bashing Rick Smith right now as he has made me pretty happy as a fan with his last hire.

A lot of people may dislike Rick Smith (I have been one of them), but he played a hand in hiring O'Brien and him and Bob both decided that "they" needed to adapt as management and find a guy that had a lot of the opposite characteristics of what Kubiak was. Kudos to Rick Smith for recognizing the big changes that this team needed after this season we just had. Him and Kubes were always tight and Kubiak played a big hand in getting him hired here, so Rick always "owed" some loyalty to Kubiak which I hated, but none the less I understood it. Now that Kubiak is gone, I don't know if Rick's philosophy as a GM will be quite the same. I guess we're just going to have to watch and see how things play out over the next few years. But as of now, Rick Smith just made a great decision as a GM in my eyes and if it turns this franchise around for many years I'd say that Rick Smith has learned a few things possibly which is all I can ask of a fan. Learn from your mistakes and don't frequently repeat them. Rick just might be learning and "ADAPTING" as crazy as that sounds.

Just a couple of seasons ago people were consideeing him GM of the year... this team has talent, enough talent that this team was considered a super bowl contender before the season. He did mistakes, especially with some big contracts and some FA leaving, but overall he built a pretty strong roster. Last season was much more the coaches fault than the GMs.

75% busts? Perhaps last season, though I am not even sure about that. Guys like McCain, Mitchell or Crick ain`t busts - you can`t expect top talents in every round. And don`t forget about Cushing, Tate, Foster, Jackson, Quin, Barwin even Graham, Griffin and perhaps Mercilus and Reed... we might not hit the home run every year, but for the most part our drafts have been solid.

The Texans were 2-14 for a reason.

Lack of depth on the roster was a big part of the problem. That goes back to drafting. Extending Schaub was a brilliant move. Gary may have been the catalyst but Rick could've said no.

Yes, the good doc predicted Shaub's falling off the cliff and Rick should know more than a MB Dr. He has access to all of the medical info that C-N-D doesn't have. It's like nobody took the time to review Schaubs medicals. (Brilliant) See Ed Reed